Bu aralar yine Iain M. Banks‘in The Culture evrenine dönüş yaptım serinin 6. kitabı Inversions ile. Üç – dört gündür okuyorum, herhalde bugün biter. Bu kitabın bir özelliği de, Culture’ın adının hiç geçmemesi. Aslına bakarsanız, kitap bizim Orta Çağ Avrupası’na benzer bir zaman-mekan diliminde geçmekte. Biri bir bayan doktor (Vossil), diğeri de bir fedainin (DeWar) üzerinden birbirinden bağımsız gelişen iki hikaye üzerinden anlatım yapılıyor; bir bölüm birine, diğer bölüm diğerine ayrılmış durumda. Ama, Culture evrenini biliyorsanız, çok geçmeden, aslında bu iki kişinin Culture’dan bu dünyaya geldiklerini anlıyorsunuz. Aralarda DeWar masal anlatır gibi, kralın oğluna “uzak” bir ülkeden, Lavishia’dan bahsediyor:
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‘I think it might be time for a story,’ Perrund said, and pulled the boy back to a sitting position. ‘DeWar?’
DeWar sat and thought for a moment. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘it’s not much of a story, but it is a story of sorts.’ ‘Then tell it.’ ‘It is suitable for the boy?’ Huesse asked. ‘I shall make it so.’ DeWar sat forward and shifted his sword and dagger. ‘Once upon a time there was a magical land where every man was a king, every woman a queen, each boy a prince and all girls princesses. In this land there were no hungry people and no crippled people.’ ‘Were there any poor people?’ asked Lattens. ‘That depends what you mean. In a way no, because they could all have any amount of riches they wanted, but in a way yes, for there were people who chose to have nothing. Their hearts’ desire was to be free from owning anything, and they usually preferred to stay in the desert or in the mountains or the forests, living in caves or trees or just wandering around. Some lived in the great cities, where they too just roved about. But wherever they chose to wander, the decision was always theirs.’ ‘Were they holy people?’ Lattens asked. ‘Well, in a way, maybe.’ ‘Were they all handsome and beautiful, too?’ Huesse asked. ‘Again, that depends what you mean by beautiful,’ DeWar said apologetically. Perrund sighed with exasperation. ‘Some people see a sort of beauty in ugliness,’ DeWar said. ‘And if everybody is beautiful there is something singular in being ugly, or just plain. But, generally, yes, everybody was as beautiful as they wanted to be.’ ‘So many ifs and buts,’ Perrund said. ‘This sounds a very equivocal land.’ ‘In a way,’ DeWar smiled. Perrund hit him with a cushion. ‘Sometimes,’ DeWar continued, ‘as people in the land brought more of it under cultivation—’ ‘What was the name of the land?’ Lattens interrupted. ‘Oh . . . Lavishia, of course. Anyway, sometimes the citizens of Lavishia would discover whole groups of people who lived a bit like the wanderers, that is, like the poor or holy people in their own land, but who did not have the choice of living like that. Such people lived like that because they had to. These were people who hadn’t had the advantages in life the people of Lavishia were used to. In fact, dealing with such people soon became the biggest problem the people of Lavishia had.’ ‘What? They had no war, famine, pestilence, taxes?’ Perrund asked. ‘None. And no real likelihood of the last three.’ ‘I feel my credulity being stretched,’ Perrund muttered. ‘So in Lavishia everybody was happy?’ Huesse asked. ‘As happy as they could be,’ DeWar said. ‘People still managed to make their own unhappinesses, as people always do.’ Perrund nodded. ‘Now it begins to sound plausible.’ |
Kesin daha önceden de yazmışımdır, Special Circumstances gibi en uç birimlerini göz ardı edersek, Culture benim ütopyam, yaşamak istediğim yer. Bir de Banks her Culture romanını o kadar öyle yerlerde geçirtiyor ki, her şey her yer çok tanıdık ve bu kadar tanıdık olduğundan bir o kadar da bunaltıcı geliyor insana. Böyle durumlarda, Piyale Madra’nın Piknik’inin ZAKU’sunun özlemiyle yanıp tutuşuyorum…
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